The Two Wardens
by Shadowfang3000
Summary: "That's just the cycle of life, little Yordle. Draven simply made his best attempt and moved on." - The unlikely duo of Lulu and Draven are tasked with warding the battlefield for their team, learning a bit about eachother as they go along.


(A/N) Lulu and Draven? That's more bizarre than usual! D:

I've been lurking around the darkest depths of Gelbooru and Google, and I keep on stumbling across adorable images of Lulu and Draven. It's strange to see the badassery of Draven and the cuteness of Lulu in one image, but if you ask me it's sort of similar to my Draven X Sona ideas: Opposites attract eh?

Anyway, one of the images I came across featured Draven helping Lulu ward the brush. It kind of lifted off from there :P

This isn't a romance fic! I can't picture true romance between a Yordle and a Draven, and I intend to write this more as a nice and fuzzy friendship fic :)

This probably won't work out due to the strangeness of the combination, but there's no harm in trying. To be honest, I have thousands of fic ideas in the wings right now but a severe case of writer's block over the past few weeks has held me back from writing them.

Just a note: It might be a good idea to read "A Moment's Respite" before this fic. It explains Draven's feelings towards Sona... It's not that complex though, he's only a simple minded Executioner with sass and a killer moustache :P

WARNING: Lots spelling errors, OOC characters, a sucky friendship story, terrible attempts at being both adorable and funny at the same time, and DRAAAAAAAAAAVEN NOT BEING DRAAAAAAAAAAVENISH.

**The Two Wardens**

"Draven disapproves of this warding business!" The Executioner grumbled, idly spinning an axe as he wandered through the shadowy wilderness. "Not enough axes spinning, nor heads rollin'."

The young Yordle alongside him tutted at his bloodlust, taking an idle sip from her Oracle's Elixir to keep vigil on the surrounding brush for traps. "You can get to that later, right now we need to ward this river for the team!"

"They should be doing the warding, Draven's got a quota to meet you know!" He scoffed, glaring at the small girl. She stuck her tongue out at him mockingly as her little legs pounded on the floor, working overtime to keep up with the tall Noxian. "The little Yordle can handle herself in a scuffle, why can't Draven go out and fight?"

"Because if you charge in like a big dummy, you're bound to get ambushed!" She exclaimed, tapping her nose cleverly. "You need to be careful out here, it's dangerous!"

Draven gave a hearty chuckle, which sounded loud enough to give his position away to everyone in Valoran. "Draven thrives off risk, little Yordle."

"Stop calling me that please." Lulu growled, pouting irritably at his name calling. He tended to give everyone a strange name that pointed out something about them, and she couldn't help but find it highly rude. You wouldn't go up to Kog'Maw and call him a "Sickening, pulsating pile of pus" would you?

"The little Yordle should be honoured by Draven's blessing of a title!" He smirked, having to bend down to a crouch just to give her a condescending pat on the head. "He only gives titles to people he likes."

_Guess that makes him the most loving man in the world._

She had to admit that she did like it when people patted her head, but now was not the time to indulge in embarrassing pleasures. Batting his hand away with her staff, she looked up at the burly bloke with her best attempt at an inspirational stare. However, from someone as small and adorable as her, it came across more like a cute kitten asking for milk than a proud barbarian warrior trying to rally his men.

"No time for bandying nice words, Draven!" She cried, pointing forward to a thick layer of brush with her staff. "We have a job to do!"

"Naaah..." He groaned, stabbing his axes into the damp ground of the riverbank and leaning against them for support. "Draven's leaving that in the little Yordle's perfectly capable hands."

"Oh really?" She growled in response, folding her stubby arms angrily. "And then what's the Glorious Executioner going to be doing whilst I'm busy being an asset to the team?"

"Oi!" He shouted, suddenly stumbling. He barely managed to hold himself up again with his axes, almost falling directly into the murky waters of the stream. "Draven's an asset to the team no matter what he does!"

"Go on then, tell me how you're going to help the team right now."

"Draven... Draven's currently using his presence to imbue his allies with courage and bravery!"

Lulu's perpetually raised eyebrow said it all. "... So you're saying your face alone can inspire everyone on the team from a mile away?"

"More like a kilo-metre, but yeah." He said, closing his eyes and leaning back even further. "That's the power of the Dravestache."

Lulu had started ignoring the nonsense the man was spouting a few minutes prior, having began the arduous task of planting Wards in the brush. The magical devices were fiddly and fragile, and it took forever to push them down into the earth securely. Thankfully the ground was damp from the river water, otherwise she wouldn't have stood a chance with such small and weak arms.

"... The little Yordle isn't going to ask what a Dravestache is?" Draven asked, sounding a tad bit disappointed. Standing from where she was, she tread through the shallow waters of the river and moved on to another layer of brush.

"It's pretty obvious." She sighed, kneeling in the mud to place the next ward. Part of her wanted to get Pix to fire a few sparks into his face to shut him up, but the mischievous Fae had gone on a runner with another member of the team, apparently fascinated by the shiny gems on his armour.

_He wasn't alone there._

Draven expected her to continue on from there, but she was too busy with her work. Her legs were covered in a thick layer of dirt, and her soft hands were raw with physical effort. The young girl was simply not built for such a laborious task, and only now did he understand why she took him with her.

"Fine." He said suddenly, ripping his axes from the ground and placing them securely into the straps on his back. "Draven will assist the little Yordle, she deserves that much."

"... I beg your pardon?" She whispered, a tad bit confused by his wording. She hadn't actually known Draven for that long, and couldn't think of a reason for him to owe her one. "What did I do?"

"The little Yordle listens to Draven." He smiled, practically sliding across the mud on his knees and grinding to a halt alongside her. "Most of Draven's team don't like to talk to him."

"Well..." She giggled, letting him lean over to try a press the Ward down into the stubborn ground. "You do tend to go on for a while."

He strained with effort as the Ward slowly sunk deeper into the Earth. The tip of the totem blinked with an emerald glow, confirming that the Ward was now active. Sighing, he dusted his hands off and rose to his feet.

"Only trying to lighten the mood." He said, offering his hand to the girl. It took him a moment to take her stature into account, and he kneeled once again to pull her up. Dusting herself off, Lulu surveyed the area for any incoming baddies.

_She only had a drop of Elixir left._

"Should Draven ward that brush there?" He asked, pointing at a line of thick grass on the edge of the bridge across the river. The sounds of battle were growing louder, indicating that whoever was in lane was in the middle of a fight.

Thankfully they were there to Ward and guard the flank, or all hell could've broken loose. Nodding absentmindedly, Lulu pulled out the large potion vial and stared at the remaining contents. The pink liquid sat motionlessly at the bottom of the glass container, not a single ripple going through it as she held it aloft.

_Bottoms up._

Making sure to down the whole of the bitter concoction, she stealthily popped a small gummy sweet into her mouth as she left to join her companion. She had been saving the small snacks for quite some time, only eating them during emergencies.

Draven was in the middle of angrily stomping on the top of the Ward he had just placed, it having snapped and ceased to function before he had even started swinging his armour plated boot at it. Lulu groaned at his impatience, and yelled at him irritably.

"Stop it, they might hear us!" She whispered sharply, tugging at his leg to try and grab his attention. He wobbled to regain his footing and crouched down alongside her, suddenly realising the stupidity of what he had just done. "What were you doing? You press them down! You don't stomp on them as if they owed you gold!"

"Draven hates these things!" He scoffed, grabbing the shattered remains of the device and tossing them into the river water. If it wasn't for the limited life-span of Wards, she would've slapped him over the head for polluting the relatively clean waters of the area. "They never go into the damn ground!"

Part of her felt sorry for this oaf of a man's sadness, yet another part of her just felt angry at him for being so stupid. Pulling out a spare Ward, she leant over to try and place it herself. "Listen, silly..."

Scraping a mound of dirt away, she began to slow dig a hole into the ground with the bottom of her staff. Believing it to be deep enough, she placed the end of the ward into the vacant spot and let it balance precariously. Seeing that it was generally stable, she started to push the soft dirt towards it to help it stand straight. "You have to be delicate, see?"

The emerald glow burst into life, and she dusted her hands off triumphantly. "Simple as that, hmm?"

"Hmph." Draven scoffed, crossing his arms childishly and looking away. "Draven's one must've been broken."

"Just try to be a bit more gentle next time, okay?" Lulu giggled, finding his excuses somewhat endearing.

There was a brief silence as Draven slowly turned his head back to her. Admitting defeat, he hung his head in shame. "Right."

Smirking triumphantly, she patted his head in the same way he had patted hers a few minutes prior. "Good boy."

She couldn't tell if it was an irritated grimace or a smile of amusement, but he stood up to join her without protest as she ran into a thick layer of brush for cover. Noticing the ongoing battle ahead of them, he took a firm grasp on one of his axes and tried to place himself between the fighting and the young girl.

"We still need to ward the other side of the river." She stated, holding her staff close. While she had been through many battles before, nothing could cease the chill of fear she felt shooting down her spine when peril was near.

_She didn't want this._

_She just wanted a world of love and joy, just like the Glade._

_A pity that she may never see home again._

Draven noticed her trembling, and shuffled a bit closer reassuringly. While it didn't stop her shivering, it certainly seemed to slow it. "Draven can keep you covered while you run across."

The battle before them had been raging on for quite some time now. A lanky card dealer by the name of Twisted Fate had elected himself to handle this lane alone. With apparent ties to numerous Bilgewater crime syndicates, he certainly wasn't a man to be trusted. However, Lulu had to admit that his stylish dress sense and handsome voice was more than enough to grab her attention.

_So what if she had a crush on him? Nothing was wrong with that!_

His coat billowed majestically in the wind as he expertly dodged a flurry of arrows from the other side of the lane. A man bearing some sort of magical longbow stood tall, trying to snipe him from afar. The charismatic Card Master was having none of that, and after side-stepping a bolt of energy from a stubborn minion, he pulled out a golden card imbued with magic and flung it at his foe. Certain that he could kill him before the card landed, the bowman fired another arrow yet was shocked as Twisted Fate knelt down in a crouch to dodge it, holding his hat down as it narrowly brushed by his head. The card hit the archer full-on and he staggered back, dazed and confused.

"Get movin'" The Card Master muttered, idly glancing at the brush in full knowledge that his comrades were there. Noticing that Lulu was too busy being filled with awe by the man's finesse and grace, Draven plucked her up from the ground and hastily ran across the lane. Twisted Fate growled as another bolt of energy was sent at him by a minion, who he pacified with another card. "And stay low!"

The bowman recovered from the stunning might of the golden card and sent a flurry of arrows after Draven and Lulu. Narrowly escaping the path of the attack, Draven moved into the cover of the brush as Twisted Fate grabbed the archer's attention with another card.

"Get a hold of yourself, little Yordle!" He growled, setting her down on the floor. Breaking out from her trance, she shook her head in embarrassment.

"A-Ah, did I...?" She started, stuttering as she tried to understand the situation. Realising what had just happened, she apologised profusely. "Sorry, I spaced out again..."

Draven frowned irritably, flicking her nose. "The little Yordle could've hurt herself! Why did she stop moving?"

"Ow..." She mumbled, rubbing the injury with soft palms. She didn't know why she froze up like that, even in the presence of someone as cool as Twisted Fate. She wasn't exactly willing to admit to someone that simply looking at him could do that to her, so she tried to skip past the question. "We need to keep warding, come on..."

Draven really did look worried for her, yet she was surprised when his usually stubborn attitude didn't come in to play. Rather than press the issue on and risk alienating himself from everyone like he usually did, he simple lead the way through the area and started planting Wards.

He was surprised to find that she didn't say anything as they worked, with him doing most of the digging and her planting the Wards down wordlessly. This wouldn't have bothered him so much if it wasn't for the look of conflict and deep thought that she bore on her face.

_He couldn't take it anymore._

"Is the little Yordle okay?" He suddenly asked as she planted a Ward into ground, her expression vacant and distant. She turned to him slowly as the item began to glow, pouting sadly.

"I don't know..." She sighed, clenching her staff close once more. She stared down at his toes, not able to look him in the eye. "I-I feel weird..."

Playing life counsellor for the first time in his career, Draven sheathed his readied blades once more and grabbed hold of her shoulder in a caring gesture. His hands were incredibly warm, and Lulu couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of his touch. "When did the little Yordle start feeling weird?"

"Look, I already understand this." She spat, sudden anger springing up in the usually happy-go-lucky girl. As if her mind had been released like a faucet on full blast, she continued to shout loudly. "It's love. I'm in love, okay? I love someone with all of my heart but for some reason I just don't know _why_!"

Not registering that she probably didn't want to say that, Draven pressed on nervously. "Right... So who does the little Yordle like?"

"Isn't it obvious? Twisted Fa-"

_Stop._

Realising what she had just revealed to the man in front of her, she did the first thing that came to mind.

She tried to hide her face inside of her hat.

She adorably wiggled and whimpered whilst wrestling the hat over her eyes. It was cute to witness, yet at the same time Draven couldn't help but pity her discomfort. Reaching for and stroking her sensitive ears once more, he did what he could to try and reassure the confused young girl.

It was certainly a strange reversal of roles to say the least. Earlier it seemed that Lulu was the more mature of the two, yet now it appeared that it was Draven. Not everyone understood love, and Draven wanted to do all he could to explain the concept to his worried friend.

"So the little Yordle likes the lanky man hmm?" He asked, hoping to confirm his inference. She nodded reluctantly, finding Draven somewhat more trustworthy than most people she knew. He smiled as she tipped her hat upwards, revealing her watering eyes.

"He's cool..." She started, still tense and nervous. His petting comforted her greatly, but even that wasn't enough to calm her down. "H-He has a nice voice... And he's kind to me..."

"Kind to you?" Draven repeated, trying to think of a way the sollitary man could be kind to someone. Lulu blushed profusely, smiling to herself as she recalled a distant memory.

"He gave me sweeties when I ran out..."

Draven raised his eyebrows, instantly assuming that this was a bad thing. While Twisted Fate was a skilled fighter and an asset to the team, he was quite the loner and criminal. He'd heard many stories of his exploits in racketeering and kidnapping across Valoran, and he trusted the man as much as he would trust a resident Demacian.

_And sweets?_

_Now that's just creepy!_

"Well, the little Yordle must be glad that she knows someone like that eh?" He grinned, trying to stress that it was a good thing. "He'd never give Draven sweeties, so he must really like the little Yordle!"

Lulu licked her lips of the faint sugariness that remained from the last sweet she had eaten. Standing up with her last two Wards in hand, she slowly began to walk to the next spot with Draven in pursuit. She'd prefer to be doing something helpful for the team instead of going on about childish crushes.

_Even if Draven was being so nice to her._

"I shouldn't like him; I've never even spoken to him." She muttered as she got to work, Draven kneeling down alongside her attentively. She'd bandied very few words with the Card Master in the past, amounting to him politely declining her offer of support and his offer of a packet of sweets when he overheard her saying she was out.

"Well, Draven guesses we're one the same there."

Lulu paused at this comment, stopping just before she plunged the Ward into the trench that he had dug. "What do you mean?"

"Draven..." He began, rolling his tongue as he held on for dramatic effect. Sighing in admittance, he looked away embarrassingly. "Draven has his own crush, believe it or not."

"Really?" She gasped, legitimately shocked by this revelation. "The famous Draven is in _love_ with someone?"

"Yeah, he is." He smiled sheepishly, happy to see that she'd gotten a lot happier knowing that she wasn't alone. "Pretty girl, Draven was in a team with her once. Beautiful face, cerulean locks, killer body..."

The man had started to trail off as he imagined the frame of his perfect woman, his cheeks flushing red as he lusted over the woman he longed for. Poking him with her staff to snap him out of it, he coughed and ran his hand through his hair. "Sorry, Draven does that sometimes."

"Did it ever work out?"

"Wuh? With the girl?" He asked. Lulu was leaning towards him, nodding furiously in curiosity over the man's misadventures in the world of love. "Nah, Pretty Girl moved to another team before Draven could court her."

"Oh... Sorry." Lulu muttered, suddenly feeling guilty for bringing it up. For once Draven looked visibly disappointed, saddened by his own cowardice towards love that got him into his current situation.

"Just the cycle of life, little Yordle." He reassured, the Ward glowing as they stood up in unison. "No need to linger in the past. Draven simply made his best attempt and moved on."

Taking this advice to heart, Lulu considered what she should do about her feelings. Could Twisted Fate possibly love her too? She'd only know if she asked him, and what was there to lose?

_Draven was right, she should try._

_And if she failed, she could just move on and continue with life knowing the truth._

As the two reached the final area that required warding, she couldn't help but say it.

"Draven?"

"Yeah?" He mumbled, rubbing his neck that had become sore from looking down so much.

"Thank you."

He simply chuckled in reply, gesturing her to pass him the last ward so he could plant it. The ground seemed to be elevated by a great extent, likely the result of a powerful attack from their foes. Despite his considerable height, Draven couldn't get the angle he needed to plant the Ward securely. With no other option, he turned to the young girl alongside him.

"Hey, little Yordle." He began, kneeling. "If Draven picked you up, do you think you can reach it?"

Lulu blushed at his question, finding the prospect quite embarrassing. It wasn't a very well documented fact that picking a Yordle up could be seen as a _very_ rude gesture. At the same time it could also be seen as a highly loving gesture, one to indicate parental affection.

_But he didn't know that, did he?_

The needs of the team taking precedence over her own, she shyly raised her arms to signal her agreement to his proposition. Idly noting the redness of her cheeks, he grabbed hold of the girl and held her aloft. She was unbelievably light, to the point that he actually strained himself as he swung her up.

Holding her up high, she wobbled back and forth as she tried to place it down. Curious about her progress he tried to look around her to see how she was doing.

"D-Don't you dare." She suddenly yelped, not wanting him to look up. While he was confused by this, he respected her wishes and hung his head low.

"Can the little Yordle reach?" He asked, hoping to find an alternative method to answer his question. Lulu stuck her tongue out in concentration as she stretched forward, trying to place the Ward down carefully. Eventually she managed to dig a small trench with the tip of the device, allowing her to dig it in to the ground.

"There!" She smiled as it erupted into its familiar green glow. "Finally finished!"

Draven lowered her slowly to the ground, setting her down gently as her feet wiggled for contact with the ground. She noticed that he didn't let go immediately, as if he was deep in thought about something.

"Draven?" She called, shaking his shoulder. He let his hands fall from her sides, a warm smile filling his battle-scarred face. He was glad to see that the young girl was back to normal, having been quite worried by her sudden sadness moments prior.

_She could change moods at the drop of a hat._

"I guess we should go back to the lanes and help." Lulu sighed, readying her staff. Draven rose to his full height and fumbled for the handles of his blades, glad to know that the fun was about to begin.

He would've at least, if it wasn't for the column of barbs that sprouted across the floor and slammed into him, sending him spiralling to the floor.

As he splashed into the shallow pool of the river, Lulu turned towards the direction of the attack. Standing in the brush they had just warded was a woman, her skin a dark cobalt and her clothing covered in sharp, painful looking spikes. She blew a kiss at the stunned Draven before turning to the scared Yordle.

"I'm sorry, did I scare you girl?" She frowned, not even trying to hide her mocking tone. "Come to mummy, I'll end it all quickly."

Knowing more than to trust strangers, she held her staff in a threatening position. "Come any closer and you'll be wearing those spikes as nose-rings!"

She chuckled at this remark, seeing no threat in the young Yordle. Hopping down from her place she began to slowly pace towards Lulu, who awkwardly backed up in fear. She didn't understand how the woman could've slipped by her, having taken a dose of Oracle's Elixir not...

_It had run out._

_They'd been sitting ducks for a while._

Eventually Lulu realised that she couldn't back up any further, having walked directly into a cliff wall. The dark woman stopped barely a metre away, her hands readied as if she was about to summon an arcane spell. "Don't move, I'll make it as painless as possible honey."

Lulu was about to cast one of her own magicks to try and chase the woman off, only for the sound of a rotor blade to cut her incantations out. A spinning axe flew in from nowhere, missing Lulu and slamming into the ground exactly where the woman would've been if she hadn't dodged it.

Draven stood up from the pool of water with his axes still spinning aggressively, ready to fight this woman to the death. His face said it all, his eyes and mouth expressing the sheer amount of bloodlust he felt. "Stand back, little Yordle."

Lulu did just that, going as fast as her little legs could take her. Running behind the burly Noxian, she readied herself for combat. While fighting was not her expertise, she was more than adept at supportive magic, and intended to give her all to assist Draven in combat.

The woman was about to say something, most likely a taunt or a mocking insult. However, Draven wasn't exactly in the mood for a chat and sent an axe her way. The nimble woman slid to the side to dodge it, and charged at him full throttle. Knowing that she'd dodge everything he sent at her, he decided to crouch low and tosses his axes in a horizontal manner, with the hope of tripping her up and sending her to the floor. She hopped over them artistically, closing the distance and clawing at him with sharp talons.

Draven managed to swat one hand aside, but the second fist that was swung at him was too fast for him to block. Lulu noticed this and fired a burst of energy at the woman, hitting her in the side and throwing her back. With her open to attack, Draven readied his axes once more and tossed them directly at her. He made no attempt to try and be merciful, aiming purely to cleave the woman in twain. Knowing that she couldn't hold her ground alone, she stumbled to her feet and did a runner.

"Come back here woman, Draven feels like carving a smile on you!"

She rapidly disappeared into the undergrowth, the river clear of any other foes. Lulu was still concerned for their safety against such attacks however, and pulled at his leg. "Draven? We need to get back..."

He was breathing heavily, his lips curved into a vicious snarl. He almost resembled an angered monster, ready to lash out and eat whoever was in his path. He seemed more content with staying on the battlefield, wishing to murder as many as he could.

_But he was injured._

_He needed help._

"Draven, come on." She stressed, tugging harder. He snapped his head back to look at her, his eyes wide. All she could do was stare back, frozen in fear by his violent glare. He looked unbelievably angry at her, as if she'd been the one to hurt him.

And then he hugged her.

His blades fell to the floor and caused a soft splat as they landed in the wet mud of the river bank. His arms wrapped around her and held her close, unwilling to let her go. "The little Yordle could've hurt herself!"

He was one to talk with his wounds, his head stained in claret. However, she didn't protest and simply hugged him back. His body stunk of sweat and blood, yet it didn't matter to her.

"Draven's glad that you're safe." He sighed, pulling his head back to look at the girl. His eyes seemed to be watering, the after effect of the sheer panic he had apparently just felt. "Draven doesn't know what he'd do without his favourite friend."

Not knowing of any way to comfort the man, she went for the first thing that she could think of. Leaning closer to him, she planted a gentle and loving kiss on his battle-scarred cheek. It wasn't much in her eyes, but it was all she could give on the top of her head.

"Your little Yordle is here, Draven." She whispered soothingly, patting his back. "She's here."

_He needed someone right now._

_He deserved that much._

X

(A/N): That ending made no sense, and it felt so rushed! :/

Anyway, hopefully that has disrupted the serious writer's block I am currently suffering from. It's not an issue of ideas, it's more of an issue of writing it in story form effectively if you know what I mean D:

I hope somebody out there enjoys this :P


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